Lie Me Gently on My Pyre
by Light Derived from Darkness
Summary: Silver is torn from the increasing tranquility of the world that he helped save by the sudden return of Blaze after a tortured decade of her absence, though he finds himself struggling most with what she has become...[Silvaze, Rated M for eventual Strong Language, Violence and Sexual Themes]
1. Prologue: Solecism

[ **Author's Disclaimer:** This fanfic will technically be AU as I've combined elements from Silver's future both from how it's shown in the comics and also the events that occurred in Sonic '06 to a degree; the chronology of the events that occur will become known so you may see inconsistencies here and there that will be explained. Just wanted to clarify that before I launch right into this! Hope you all enjoy my first official Sonic-based fanfiction. A couple additional quick notes: this fanfiction is rated M because there will be some strong language, violence and sexuality in further chapters of it. Though it's centered on Silver and Blaze as well, other characters and pairings will eventually be involved in the plot as time goes on. I'll make them known as they come along!]

 **Prologue: ~Solecism~**

He had never strove blindly for a utopia; all he had ever wanted were some answers. The "hows" and the "whys" of his world had been shrouded in such mystery for so long that now that he had uncovered what had happened, there was still an emptiness that for some reason nagged at Silver inwardly.

In the past, he'd uncovered the truth of how the Freedom Fighters had dissolved thanks to the ominous presence of Mecha Sally, but they had managed to stop her before it had reached the point that it had in his timeline, thus reversing the damage her "betrayal" had caused. The destruction, however, he had discovered was not just the fault of Dr. Eggman nor any of his other incarnations…instead, the demonic creature Iblis had preyed upon the already damaged world and ravaged the war-torn cities and broken people that had been left behind after decades of unresolved conflicts.

Iblis had simply been the catalyst of a long spiral of destruction that the world had already been set upon, he realized; even if the creature had never somehow found its way to his timeline, the world would have likely fallen into ruin regardless. There probably would have been a lot less fire, however…

 _Fire…_

Silver uncrossed his arms, looking over the expanse of the city. He remembered standing here ten years ago, when he was only fourteen, looking across what seemed like an endless sea of boiling magma, the city half-suspended in the intense heat somehow. Now, there were veins of cobblestone roads that had been built years ago over the obsidian crust left behind after Iblis was removed from their world.

The buildings that had once been left to ruin had slowly become livable again, and Silver was amazed at how much progress had been made in only a few years. Then again, he'd spent so much of his childhood and life before time-traveling in the ruins of Crisis City, now renamed Renascentia, an ancient Overlander word for "rebirth." Silver found it fitting, though he felt he could never pronounce it correctly.

He'd spent the last ten years in his own timeline and world helping it be rebuilt; with the scale of his powers, he knew he could provide the most help here, and now that he'd solved what had caused his world so much of its anguish, he had much less need to use the orange time stone to continue his pursuits. Edmund often warned him that he couldn't allow his curiosity to potentially cause time paradoxes and potentially ruin all of the progress that he'd achieved in going back and forth; he'd given the stone to the aging guardian for safe keeping Onyx Island, which itself was also being rebuilt.

He credited the people of his world often for their survival; with his isolation in Crisis City and Onyx Island, he'd never known that there were far more beings left alive in his world than he'd accounted for. And the population was already beginning to grow now that beings were coming to these hubs to discover and amass brighter futures for themselves. When he'd walk the streets, he was always seeing new infants and children out and about; now that the world was once again stable, it seemed that people felt comfortable once again settling down and having kids. He couldn't blame them for having no aspirations to bring offspring into a world that was once covered almost entirely in so many flames and so much destruction.

 _Flames…_

He knew he should feel happy, but deep down inside…he wasn't, and it bothered him more now than his uncertainty ever had. He didn't know why at first; he had so many things on his mind when all of this had first started coming together again. He had begun as an almost unofficial leader in this new world back when he could barely keep his powers under wraps without aid and constant meditation and communing alongside Edmund and Mogul. Ten years later, and he'd matured quite a bit and had gotten a far better grip over his powers, though there was still a defined part of him that maintained that naïve innocence. His appearance had changed a bit; as he'd aged he'd lost his lanky prepubescent form and had become more toned, and his quills had lengthened and thinned slightly, becoming long enough that he now smoothed them back and wore them tied back in a queue. He also wore some clothing now at times; with the seemingly eternal fire gone, the seasons were beginning to return, and even having a thick coat of fur could only go so far. For the most part, he stuck with wearing tight-fitting black robes akin to the ones he'd worn while a part of the Secret Freedom Fighters; that time felt so long ago now. He also still wore his power-inhibitors; he could get by without them, but he didn't enjoy the mental strain of keeping his powers in check, especially when he was stressed.

Edmund had used to bicker at him about how brash he was, how uninformed…and yet now, now that he'd come a long ways, his mentor had warned him not to lose it.

But part of him wondered if he already had.

Now it felt like so much of him was driven by an obsession with making the world that sort of perfect utopia that had only existed in the confines of fleeting dreams for so long. It wavered between the colorful and blissful images of tattered childhood stories he'd find in the rubble to some of the generally peaceful timelines that he'd entered and helped to forge. But it felt like, no matter how much he did to help those around him, he never felt the kind of contentment that he'd always imagined. When people would thank him profusely for what he'd done, for all his aid, he'd feel sheepish and awkward, not proud nor even humbled by everything that had happened. Mogul had told him it was because he was a selfless being, but he felt like it was really because in spite of all of this…he felt like what he really wanted was missing.

He'd only recently figured out what it was.

Deep down, he felt guilty that he'd come this far only to forget something, or rather someone, so crucial to everything that had happened. He supposed he couldn't be faulted entirely, because his memories and knowledge were often so skewed because of his constant time-traveling and his being decoupled from the stream of time because of it. But still…he had his memories, and he realized that throughout all of this prosperity he'd buried much of what he'd remembered of perhaps the person who had helped him most to make this world what it was. Someone who was truly humble and had never been recognized for what she'd done to help this world, in spite of having her own home to return to.

The ache deep inside of him had been gnawing at him for weeks, maybe months now, and no matter how hard he worked or tried to distract himself, it would not leave him. At first he'd been angry about it; didn't he deserve a break after so much time had been spent getting his world back in order?! Then when the realization had hit him, he'd felt saddened, even sickened with how oblivious he'd been.

Even now, standing over the city that was once again flowing and changing with so much hope, he found himself closing his eyes, and seeing the mixture of the darkness of smoke, and the embers of the conflagration that had consumed Crisis City for decades upon decades.

Yet amongst the charred smells and the suffocating plumes, the dismal blackness mixing with the intense and perpetual light of fire, that image had come back to him.

A smile, faint but genuine.

 _I'll take Iblis…_

That glint of tenacity in a set of amber irises.

 _Don't worry…my soul is already alit with flames…_

The iridescent sheen of the fire glimmering off her violet form and clothing.

 _I will be accepted…_

He could faintly hear himself protesting, and feel the chilling despair that had coursed through him when she'd seized the two chaos emeralds from his hands, forcing herself ahead of him and towards Iblis's monstrous form.

 ** _We agreed_** _…_ _to save the world at_ _ **any**_ _price…!_

Silver gasped a bit, not realizing that he'd been holding his breath while remembering all of that. He felt his eyes glazed over slightly with the sting of tears that had been on the cusp of emerging had he not been jolted from his reminiscing by the sound of shouts from down below. He suddenly realized that the smell of smoke he'd thought he was imagining was real, and could see what looked like a fire in the distance, just outside the city limits, on the edge of the returning tangles of vegetation that were growing all over the planet's surface, fed by the nutrients of the indigenous soil.

He immediately launched himself off the rooftop towards it, feeling a single half-manifested teardrop dissipate from the corner of his eye as he looked ahead at the distant glimmer of the flame.

 _…_ _Blaze…_


	2. Chapter One: Her Return

**Chapter One: Her Return**

 _I want to die…_

It was strange how empty the thought felt now; ten years of thinking this same mantra, over and over inside her mind, and yet it had become as meaningless as everything else. As deadened as her nerve endings and several layers of her skin. Each time it faded, she went through the agony of feeling each cell and nerve ending regrow back in place, each time the pain felt more and more dulled. Maybe it was just in her mind that it wasn't as bad, or that she simply couldn't be bothered to feel it anymore. Strange, what the mind could do in its last gasps to try and keep itself sane.

The last decade had been a continuous nightmare with small moments of apathy blissfully peppered into it like some sort of cruel afterthought. No amount of meditation or focus could trly keep Iblis's essence from reappearing again, no matter what she tried. There was no cool nor frigid place that could give her a lasting relief from the anguish, and she had tried, and looked everywhere.

Originally, she had transported herself and its violent spirit to an empty zone, one that had no sentient life and thus she had calculated as 'expendable', though she mourned inwardly the loss of the flora and fauna that would come. Iblis's flames had made short work of it, but for the first couple of years, she had been able to tolerate the pain of housing such a mindlessly destructive creature. In some ways, the intellect and higher breeding that she had because of her lineage had made it easy for her to simply ignore the ravenous beast's tendencies.

But as time wore on, the one thing that had truly feared finally caught up to her: the isolation, and loneliness. She couldn't travel anywhere that there were other intelligent beings to socialize with, lest she tempt Iblis to reduce their worlds into ashes, as he had in the future of Mobius Prime. Thus, she was doomed to roam painfully empty worlds, willing herself to keep going in spite of the pain she was in.

But the anguish grew, in spite of her confidence.

There was more to Iblis than she had originally accounted for. She had assumed that Iblis was simply a vehicle for destruction, mindless and brutal in nature and little more; Mephiles had always cast himself as the identifiable mastermind behind the evil of Solaris. But the longer that she had acted as its container, the more she came to realize how untrue that was. She wouldn't qualify him as a being like its other half, but its presence began to trigger sentient thoughts in her…terrible ones.

Iblis craved the same kinds of dark and vile things that Mephiles had: destruction, anguish, suffering…all kinds of truly terrible things. That alone wouldn't have surprised her, but something about its presence seemed to reach deep into her soul, as though it were slowly corrupting her own mind. It was easy enough to detach herself at first from its psychotic dreams at first, but the more that it burrowed into her, the more it started to twist her own thoughts. Visions of Iblis's destruction warped into images of her creating the same kinds of violence and terror that the parts and whole of Solaris had strove for. It was this that sent her reeling more than anything: the thought that with such horrors within her, her powers were now strong enough for her to do the same thing to any world she came upon.

There was no way for her to stop herself all of the time; she sometimes stumbled into unsuspecting worlds that were dimensionally distant from Mobius, and she laid them all to waste, one by one. She didn't even have to do it consciously; the darkness of Iblis within her would drown out her persona, and she'd awaken, surrounded by the charred carnage of another annihilated realm.

 _No…no…! This wasn't supposed to happen! I was supposed to seal it…forever…in myself…forever in isolation…_

All of those people…dead, because she had overestimated her own power. Now, she was slave to it and Iblis, acting as its host instead of its prison. The only respite that she had was when the beast fell asleep in the recesses of her soul, usually for up to a few months, and her body would heal. Using such full extents of her power left her unrecognizable after some time had passed: her fur was all singed, or gone completely; her skin burned and blackened. Her clothes had been lost ages ago, and she wandered around bare to the world, uncaring anymore. During these times, her body could recover, but she still would have flares, where it would stir in its slumber, and cause fires to burn around her, almost as though spiting her for any shred of happiness she might find.

It was during this most recent respite that she realized it was now or never. She would die and she would drag its soul down into Hell with her own if she had to. She couldn't keep living like this, however; it was too much, too painful, too ceaseless. The eternity of it was too much to bear, and the creature was a constant; it would keep her alive with it forever, and eventually, she knew that it would consume her entirely.

There was a peace in her resolve, but still a certain pang of anguish remained within her; she couldn't die, not yet…she had to lay to rest one last thing before she could do so.

She had to see him again…just one last time. Then, her soul would be at ease. She only hoped that he would understand, and forgive her.

She still had the two chaos emeralds that she'd used to seal the creature in the first place; it took a lot of focus, but she was able to use them to form a portal back to the now slowly-healing Mobius Prime. She immediately felt resistant, and fearful that Iblis would awaken and lay waste to the world she had struggled all this time to protect, but she knew she could not be fully at rest until she could say her farewell to her old friend. At least she would be coherent and not burned to a pulp when she faced him; she could only imagine his horror, if he saw how much of a husk she'd really become, both inwardly and sometimes outwardly.

Staggering through the fluctuating opening that it formed, she found herself on the outskirts of the city; she was amazed at how much the world had recovered in the time she had been gone. The cool autumn breeze felt relieving against her still somewhat burned and permanently marred skin, even under the thin layers of iridescent fur she'd grown back. A small smile appeared on her features, albeit a sad, and weary, one.

 _I always knew…that deep down inside you would be a good leader, Silver…you just needed confidence…_

As she took a few steps, however, she looked in horror as her very presence seemed to ignite some sort of urge from the demon inside of her; the trees closest to her almost immediately started to simmer, and then turned into full-fledged flames; she managed to calm down the beast's insatiable hunger, but the damage was already begun, and she could only collapse down onto her knees, holding her face in her hands. Her mind was screaming at the creature in torment and loathing.

 _Please stop…please stop this…I don't want to harm anyone else, I don't want to bring the end to anymore worlds…I can't take it…!_

She paused, suddenly feeling the heat seem to extinguish almost as feverishly as it had begun; peering between the limited space betwixt her fingers she could see that the trees and foliage that had caught fire in her presence had been smothered, faint wisps of blue energy trailing from them. She let out a shaky breath as she suddenly heard someone and onto the ground just a few yards ahead of her; she could feel his stare before he even spoke. She couldn't help but smile faintly into her aching palms.

"Blaze…?" he whispered it, as though he honestly thought he was imagining things. She didn't move for a moment, but then slowly lowered her claws, her fiery yellow eyes staring at him with equal parts intensity and weariness.

Just seeing him standing there brought a sense of peace, and contentment, that she hadn't felt now in what felt like a true eternity.

"Hello…Silver…"

* * *

Silver honestly expected this to be the moment where he'd wake up again in a cold sweat of some kind, maybe bash his head comically into the shelf that he'd bolted far too low into the wall over his bed. He even felt the innocent inclination to pinch himself in his side as he half-expected the image of her to fade, or turn into some absurd fever-dream in front of him as it had before.

But no, there she was, sitting on the ground just a handful of feet in front of him. He could see a spark in her eyes that was definitely real, though as he observed her, his heart immediately contorted painfully in his chest.

Blaze had always prided herself in being elegant and refined, obviously traits that she had obtained because of her royal blood he'd always assumed. He could remember how she'd fuss and lecture him if he did the smallest things that she deemed uncouth, stating that it didn't matter that they were trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world, that if they lost their sense of decency and civilized behavior, they'd be no better than what they were fighting.

Yet here she was, crumpled on her knees weakly, completely nude and covered in grime. Her fur was matted and smeared with soot, along with exposed parts of her skin, which in turn were also marked with old scar tissue.

 _I've still…never seen someone so beautiful…_

He realized she was shaking, this woman who he'd never seen so much as show a shred of fear once in his time with her. He also realized that he was just standing there, staring.

It took only a second to close the distance between them.

Her form was searing to the touch, and yet he didn't give a single damn about it. His own form shuddered a bit just feeling her this close to him once more as he knelt down in front of her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Blaze…" he choked a bit, shutting his eyes tightly, just taking in her presence. He didn't care if this was a dream or not…it was the first time he'd gotten to touch her in so many years. "I didn't think…I'd ever get to see you again…"

He heard her murmur his name, and felt her body go almost limp, her forehead leaning in against his chest. He could feel her shifting and shivering as though she were cold in spite of the heat radiating from her.

 _How did this happen to her…? Her skin, her fur…her body…it's all been burned, ravaged…_

"Silver…I'm so…so glad…to see you as well…" her voice sounded hoarse, and dry, like she'd crossed the expanse of many deserts to get to him. "I wanted to see you…one...one last..."

He suddenly felt her go completely limp, and his own blood turned to ice in his veins as he realized she had lost consciousness. He swiftly picked her up off of the dry earth beneath her and turned towards the city.

'I have to get her help…I'm not going to lose her again…!' His mind thought frantically; his powers surged around him in response to the urgency of his thoughts, and without any more delay, he suddenly took off as quickly as he could back into Renascentia with her tucked cautiously in his arms.


	3. Chapter Two: His Concern

**Chapter Two: His Concern**

Two nights now, and counting, that he hadn't slept a wink, and yet for the first time in years he'd never felt so awake and alive before. He had paced every inch of the city's hospital, subconsciously taking in its every nook and cranny in an attempt to keep his mind off of the one room that he couldn't step foot in.

Blaze had been in the Urgent Care section of the hospital now for exactly forty-six hours, forty minutes and thirteen seconds…and yes, it seemed like in the back of his mind, he was counting each and every single second in pure agony. He knew he was harassing the already overworked doctors and nurses asking about her condition at every turn, but they seemed to humor him; sometimes, being regarded as the one who helped save the world had its advantages.

 _But I wasn't the one who saved it…she deserves so much more of the credit…she's the one who deserves to be idolized, and happy…_

His mind was in chaos from a constant barrage of utter bliss that she had returned, and also horror at the condition that she had come back to him in. The true extent of her wounds had come to light very quickly once he'd brought her here and the physicians had taken a close look at her. They said her body was almost entirely covered in old burn scars, layers of them, as though she'd been incinerated to an inch of her life over and over again only for her skin and nerves to agonizingly regenerate each time again.

The very thought of her suffering made him ill; he hadn't eaten a thing since he'd brought her here and yet sometimes he found himself dry heaving a bit as he worried for her, and mourned for her pain.

Even now he was continuously walking and sometimes levitating laps around the exterior hallways of the hospital, when suddenly he froze as a hoarse and sharp voice suddenly called out to him from behind him.

"You're not going to help anything or anyone making a rut in the linoleum, boy…"

Silver felt his stomach churn slightly as he turned, though it was quickly swept with relief as he saw Edmund standing in the illumination of the elevator at the end of the hallway. Forgetting about every single instance that the elderly echidna had left a painful bump on his head, he all but tackled his old mentor to the hard tile floor. He hadn't seen him now in almost four years; ever since a new city had begun to spring up on Onyx Island amidst the scattered remainders of the echidna population, the old man had found himself a new purpose in guiding them.

Normally such affection would have earned him an especially strong wallop, but surprisingly, he felt Edmund's hand on his back, a faint tremble of age emanating from it. "Now now, you're a bit old for that aren't you?"

"I'm just glad to see you…but…what are you doing here? I didn't think you'd leave Onyx Island for about anything ever since Natum Albion began to spring up there…"

"Normally, you couldn't pry me from there..but I'd heard that our world has a new guest…" his voice was grim, which made Silver bristle a bit with worry, though he tried to calm it.

"Y-yes…my…my old friend, Blaze, the one who sealed the spirit of Iblis inside of her…" he sighed. "I didn't want her to leave, when she did…but we…we couldn't find another way to remove Iblis from our world…"

Edmund nodded, albeit gravely, glimpsing down the winding hallway towards the eerily quiet Urgent Care center. "Word travels quickly…her sacrifice has been praised, Silver…but the citizens are already fearful now that she has returned…"

Silver paused, then stared at him a bit incredulously as the echidna hobbled towards the window, looking down the numerous stories below to the relatively bustling city below, which was illuminated in the post-dusk twilight. "What…what do you mean fearful? Blaze's sacrifice is what made this entire world possible, how could they believe something so…so idiotic…!"

"They are not incorrect, boy…"

Something in Silver made him feel like he was rooted to the floor, something in Edmund's tone. It had that same serious edge, but with a more sorrowful undertone that Silver couldn't remember ever hearing from him before. "What…what do you mean…?"

"The demon Iblis is still inside of her, Silver…and judging by the condition that she's in …that creature has already overpowered her will to keep it contained. There's no doubt in my mind that she's already lost herself at times to it…and now she's here. Our world is still beyond fragile right now, Silver…her presence here could easily bring it straight back to the way it was before."

He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt angry, defensive, on edge…though miraculously he kept it under wraps.

"That's a load of bullshit…" he spat under his breath; he cursed pretty infrequently, but had no qualms with it when the situation called for it. "Blaze is the only reason that this world is inhabitable and at peace again. How could they say such things about her?! She gave up everything that she had to help Mobius and this is the thanks that she receives?!"

He couldn't help his powers flaring up a bit as he half-shouted this, causing the fluorescent lights overhead to flicker and suddenly die, and a few of them to burst violently; Edmund regarded him coldly, with a sharp glint in his eyes.

"Your powers are still slave to those emotions and that temperament of yours, boy…" he snarled at him a bit. "And so is your judgment…the girl is to be praised, and I will defend her in that regard until my body goes into the ground to feed the vermin. But there's no denying that she's not just a liability, but a danger to this world. I don't want to exile her, Silver…but there's simply no way for us to ensure that she is going to remain stable. All of the evidence points to the contrary…"

Silver growled a bit, his anger and concern causing him to pace aggressively back and forth like a cornered animal, though he knew deep down inside…Edmund was right. His mind was completely clouded with the tranquility of knowing that she was alive, that she was here again…and yet, that horrible creature was still inside of her. Living in her, _torturing her_. He instantly felt another wave of sickness coming on but did his best to repress it.

He eventually halted, resting his hands on the steel railing that traveled along the long set of windows. "I…I don't know what to do, Edmund…" he said after a moment, though his voice was a bit muted from all of the conflicting feelings in his head. "I can't…I can't just banish Blaze for the sake of the world…and I can't sacrifice the world again to…to have her here…" he paused, closing his eyes, feeling the cold touch of the glass against his forehead. "I'm at a loss…"

Edmund was silent, though he could hear him shuffle to his side, also facing towards the quiet and darkened city. "Maybe there is little that we can do here, for her…but you've been to many different timelines now, Silver…perhaps there is someone that you've met during your travels that may have some way to help her…"

Silver paused, looking contemplative. "Iblis is different from the other threats that have plagued Mobius…creatures driven by chaos energy, greed-driven technology, even celestial beings…but demonic presences aren't exactly the forte of anyone I've met…I'm not sure who to ask for help…"

"Just because the answer isn't blatant doesn't mean it doesn't exist, Silver…" Edmund retorted, giving him a hearty stab in his side with his walking stick that made the hedgehog yelp a bit. "Your friends that helped you to defeat Solaris in Soleanna may still be able to help you some way, even if it's just through supporting you…you can't do this alone though, and I'm afraid that Mogul and I are of little help in this matter. We want everything work out for your sake, boy…you deserve to have this peace. But what is within her defies a lot of conventions that we know."

Silver nodded; it wasn't as though he could come up with another solution. Most of the resources of the past had been lost by the time Silver's world had come about, after all; there was a good chance that maybe one of his past allies could think of something. Anything was better than leaving her in the condition she was in. But who would be the best to ask?

He realized he would have to wait and think on it later, since his attention was turned as the doors into the Urgent Care branch of the hospital finally opened, and one of the doctors stepped out, gesturing to him calmly.

"We've gotten her vitals stabilized for the time being, Mr. Silver…you're welcome to come and see her now."

* * *

Blaze shuffled slightly on the hospital bed; even though the sheets and blankets were soft and freshly cleaned, they still felt like sandpaper against her ravaged skin and coarse fur. The nurses had kept the room unspeakably cold for her, however, which felt so much more relieving than she could have ever imagined, and worked in shifts placing cold towels and compresses onto her to try and lower her body temperature. Though it was a long process, Blaze could already feel the difference, and it was like night and day to the agony she'd been in for a long time now.

Still, there were times she realized now that the pain she'd felt inwardly had been purely egotistical; her time spent as the princess guardian of the Sol emeralds and their accompany Scepter had bestowed not just great power to her, but also a sense of arrogance that she had felt slowly humbled by the condition she was in. It was arguably the one 'good' thing that she could derive from this entire situation: it had given her a new perspective on things. The kinds of things that had aggravated her years ago now felt heavenly compared to the hell she'd been in. Marine's incessant seaside ramblings and Silver's naïve attempts at reassurance from her now gave her solace instead of annoyance, and she realized now how much she'd taken advantage of having some times of peace and solace.

She was on the cusp of going back to sleep when she heard the gentle click of the door opening, and through the blur of the intravenous medications she saw Silver's form slip into the room quietly; now that her mind was at least partially back to normal she realized just how much she missed him as she felt a strange aching sensation in her stomach.

It was almost hard to fathom how much time had passed, though there was no denying it seeing how much he'd aged. She'd been told it had been almost a decade now since she'd departed this dimension with Iblis contained, and now that she could observe him she could see how much he'd aged.

He still looked like the same young and somewhat oblivious Silver she'd known before, but he had definitely grown up noticeably; his lankiness and awkward demeanor seemed to have both subsided, and he'd become stronger and carried himself with more confidence now. She almost felt a small swell of pride seeing him so grown up, considering how often she'd lectured him about being gullible and impulsive.

Silver cautiously approached her, looking like he was trying his best not to startle her in any way; his expression was so soft and caring, to a point where she felt that same kind of ache in her stomach again, though knowing that he did care that much was comforting. He made his way to a chair beside her bed, and reached out and gently took her hand in his. He gave it a gentle squeeze and mustered a small smile for her.

"Hey…" he said, his voice slightly deepened, and definitely smoother now without that pubescent shrill to it any longer. "How are you feeling, Blaze…? Is the medicine helping? Do you need anything?"

Blaze shifted slightly; that dull ache seemed to change into a feeling of warmth inside of her, just hearing how concerned he was…she couldn't honestly remember the last time someone had showed her that much care since…well, probably since she had last seen him. She made an effort to return his gentle hold a bit.

"I'm doing better…the medicine is helping to dull the pain as best it can…and no…I don't need anything…" she smiled to him softly, and that seemed to make him relax; she could feel some of the tension leave his hand.

"That's good…" he said, though his expression suddenly seemed faintly pained. "Blaze…I'm just so happy to see you again…I've been worried about you all this time, and…it seems like I had just cause to be…"

Blaze couldn't help but chuckle coarsely at that. "I guess you did…and here when I left this dimension with Iblis…I had so much confidence, didn't I? I was resolved to what I had to do…" she sighed. "If only I'd known the gravity of it then…"

"No, Blaze…you did what you did out of selflessness, to help his world…don't try to second guess yourself or your actions…" Silver cut her off; she felt his other hand tenderly touch one of her cheeks. "I wish…I was half as brave as you are."

"Heh…you always did lack confidence in yourself…but look at you now…" she replied, and he paused, looking slightly stunned. "You've grown up so much, Silver…I'm very proud of you, you know…"

Silver's face lit up noticeably at that, and he rubbed the back of his head a bit sheepishly. "M-maybe not as much as you think…" he stammered a bit shyly.

"Growing up doesn't always mean…the loss of innocence, Silver…" she replied. "In fact, usually…it's knowing when to be innocent and when to be mature…and acting accordingly. You seem to have found that balance now…"

"I only really did…because I took a lot of what you taught me to heart…" he admitted. "You know, at first, I used to think you were kind of, well…mean, when you'd say I was naïve and ignorant. But then I realized after you left that…you were right. I was both of those things, and I was also reckless…I did things without thinking them through and both used my powers and traveled through time without really thinking on the consequences of either…and it led to some problems, some things I had to learn from in the long run. But…I think helping to rebuild Mobius has helped me gain a lot of new perspectives on how to best use my abilities in ways that are productive…"

Blaze nodded, and glimpsed out the window a bit. "You've done a good job so far…rebuilding, I mean…it looks like an entirely different planet now…" Seeing it, however, did give her a pang of homesickness for her own realm.

Silver's bashfulness shone through a bit again. "I've done the best I can…though, I don't know if I'd been able to do it without your guidance, and help from my mentors…"

"Stop discrediting yourself, Silver…you've done plenty and all on your own. It's good to regard what you've learned, but you also have to regard your own accomplishments…" she replied, looking at him wearily. "I am glad…that the world is safe now. I just…in all honesty I didn't come here to put it into any danger…I…"

Silver paused, looking at her attentively. "What is it Blaze…?"

"I only returned for one reason…I was resolved to staying in exile as long as it meant that Iblis wouldn't be able to hurt you and your world again…but…I found myself wanting to come back almost every moment…"

"Why…? Did you want to see how the world had become without Iblis in it, or…find a way back to your own dimension…?" he asked her softly.

"No…" she suddenly became quiet a moment, and looked at him, her amber eyes filled with perhaps the most emotion she'd allowed to ever slip into them. "I came back…so that I could see you again…"


End file.
